There are no plans to introduce restrictions on travellers to NZ from China, amid international concern over the reliability of case numbers in China.
It means arrivals won't be required to take a Covid-19 test.
A number of other countries have placed new restrictions on travellers from China.
"There is minimal public health risk to New Zealand from the current situation," Covid-19 Response Minister Ayesha Verrall said.
"That means additional public health or border measures are not required to protect New Zealanders."
"Nothing is going to change on that front."
Verrall said this was because BF7 is the prevalent variant in China, and it hasn't caused significant outbreaks in other countries - particularly those, like New Zealand, which have had experience with the related BA5 Omicron variant.
"Visitors won't contribute significantly to our Covid case numbers, meaning entry restrictions aren't required or justified," she said.
"However, we do share the WHO's concerns about China's lack of information sharing and this is why we'll be asking travellers from China to help us gather more information.
"Over the coming weeks, we will be temporarily emailing a random sample of people who have recently arrived from China, to ask them to undertake a rapid antigen test and share that information electronically with health authorities.
Covid-19 Response Minister Ayesha Verrall says there’s “minimal public health risk to New Zealand”. (Source: 1News)
"It's entirely voluntary and we've had high uptake of these types of measures when we've used this method before."
Verrall also emphasised that new Covid variants can emerge across the world, not only in China.
"Which is why we're reminding arrivals from all countries; please take the free rapid antigen tests that we offer at the airport, and test if you develop symptoms once you've arrived in New Zealand."
Wastewater from international flights will also be tested by ESR scientists in the coming weeks, she said.
This could potentially replace the voluntary RAT testing in the future if feasible.
"I'll finish with a hopefully well-known reminder that your best protection against Covid-19 is to make sure that you've had a booster vaccine if you're eligible," Verrall said.
'A sensible position' - ACT Party
The ACT Party has welcomed the Government's decision not to impose restrictions to travellers from mainland China.
"This is a sensible position instead of importing 2020 panic into another new year," ACT leader David Seymour said this afternoon in a press release.
"With an estimated 10,000 cases per day and 43 international flights landing at Auckland Airport yesterday alone, putting up barriers to a few hundred Chinese travellers each day would not have made sense."
Seymour said the impact of pre-departure testing on case numbers here "would have been negligible".
"The effect on Chinese Kiwis eager to see family, and tourism operators wanting to get Chinese customers back would have been major inconvenience for little benefit.
"It’s good to finally see some common sense from Labour around Covid. Let’s hope it continues through the year."
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